Artists have long employed metal sculptures to interrogate the fluidity and rigidity of boundaries, both physical and metaphorical. The durability and malleability of metals like steel, bronze, and aluminum allow creators to craft forms that challenge perceptions of separation, transition, and liminality.

One approach involves constructing fragmented or intersecting structures, where sharp edges and smooth curves coexist, symbolizing the tension between confinement and freedom. For instance, Richard Serra’s monumental steel installations manipulate space, forcing viewers to navigate and reconsider their relationship with architectural and psychological limits.

Others embed cultural narratives into their work. African artists like El Anatsui repurpose discarded metal fragments into shimmering tapestries, blurring lines between waste and art, tradition and modernity. These pieces act as thresholds, inviting dialogue about identity and globalization.

Contemporary creators also explore temporal boundaries. Kinetic metal sculptures, such as those by Alexander Calder, embody movement as a threshold between stasis and dynamism. Light-reflective surfaces further dissolve edges, suggesting impermanence.

Ultimately, metal becomes a medium for questioning borders—geographic, social, or existential. By bending, welding, or oxidizing it, artists transform cold rigidity into poetic explorations of what it means to cross, occupy, or erase a boundary.